The Nymph of Versailles

Chapter 1

May 1664

France

The moon and stars glittered above Versailles like diamonds, the perfect complement to the king's new jewel of a palace. Athénaïs once believed her marriage to a gambling addict ruined any chance she had at a comfortable life, but being appointed as a lady-in-waiting to Queen Marie-Thérèse surely must be her chance at fortune and love. In the gardens of Versailles it was easy to imagine forbidden romances and stolen kisses. To imagine dark eyes and soft lips upon her own.

A gentle breeze blew past, engulfing her in the scent of jasmine as the candles flickered. The sunlight had faded to night with the light of four thousand candles illuminating the gardens. Roughly six hundred courtiers crowded into the gardens, but she was used to the press of bodies the crowd brought and the overpowering floral perfumes that came with them. Between serving Princess Henrietta, the wife of the king's brother, or Madame as the court preferred to call her, and now the queen, she had plenty of practice navigating the rocky shores of court life.

Beside her, her friend Louise de La Vallière let out an unladylike squeal. "I refuse to believe these last three days haven't been spent in some sort of fairy land instead of France." She pulled Athénaïs toward a table heaped with food and champagne. Courtiers swarmed the table, their clothes sporting every shade of color imaginable in a cacophony of rainbows. Diamonds and pearls twinkled around thin necks. Women sported jewels sewn into stiff bodices above full skirts widened with pannier hoops. Silk dresses and doublets were trimmed in delicate lace or bedecked with ribbons. Athénaïs dodged around the wide skirts, a difficult feat with how much space the dresses demanded.

A waiter dressed as a fairy gardener complete with a set of gauzy wings on his back offered her a crystallized apple and Louise snatched it up. "I don't think I'll ever forget this party. Look at this." She held the apple up for Athénaïs's inspection. The way Louise's face lit up as she awed over the apple made it easy for anyone to see why the king had taken a fancy to her beauty. She might not be quick-witted, but she had plenty of beauty with her curves and fair hair. A sweet innocence not suited for the king's whore sparkled in her eyes. It was an innocence Athénaïs never had.

The apple shone like a ruby. Too bad it wasn't one. If she sold a ruby that large she'd be set for years. At Versailles, not even fruit was allowed to appear ordinary. "The food outdoes itself every day. I don't think the cooks can top this tomorrow."

"It's too pretty to eat." Louise set the apple down with a delicate touch as though it were made of glass. "If apples didn't rot, I'd take it with me to prove today was real and not some storybook fantasy. Come morning this is all going to feel like a dream."

Athénaïs grabbed a crystalized orange and turned it around in her hand. "I think the king picked the perfect name when he chose The Pleasures of the Enchanted Isles." For seven days the court would celebrate the king's creation of Versailles, molded from its start as a hunting lodge into a grand palace like no other. It didn't matter that construction wasn't finished or that some of the courtiers taking part would be forced to sleep in their carriages due to the lack of lodgings.

The king had picked the theme of Alcine, a powerful sorceress who used her powers to seduce warriors she kept imprisoned on her enchanted isle. Among her prisoners was Roger, a soldier who once bewitched, agreed to become Alcine's lover and risk being turned to a stone once she finished with him. On the first day of celebrations the king had pretended to be Roger as he led knights down the Alléee Royale to Alcine's palace. If this enchanted Versailles was anything like Alcine's isle then Athénaïs couldn't blame any of her lovers for wanting to stay.

"Oh look, an elephant!" Louise pointed like an excited child instead of a woman of twenty to an elephant as it circled a pavilion dripping in blue silk. Despite the creature's enormous size, nearby courtiers reached out and touched the animal as though petting a dog. "And a tiger." She took a step toward the display with her mouth open in a wide "o." The tiger attempted to bat at the leg of a courtier through its cage and the man jumped back, tripping over his feet in his haste to escape. "Let's go take a look." She tugged on Athénaïs's hand.